Now and then I’ll feature an insightful presentation on this blog with commentary about what makes it so great. I will focus on the delivery and presentation slides, but may speak about the topic itself. In this first edition, I want to showcase Eli Pariser’s presentation on the “Filter Bubble”, which is also covered in his new book, The Filter Bubble.
This post is purely commentary on Eli Pariser’s presentation. I do not own the rights to his presentation, nor do I know the designer of his slides. UPDATE! Mr. Pariser …

Now and then I’ll feature an insightful presentation on this blog with commentary about what makes it so great. I will focus on the delivery and presentation slides, but may speak about the topic itself. In this first edition, I want to showcase Eli Pariser’s presentation on the “Filter Bubble”, which is also covered in his new book, The Filter Bubble.
This post is purely commentary on Eli Pariser’s presentation. I do not own the rights to his presentation, nor do I know the designer of his slides. UPDATE! Mr. …

This post describes two commonly asked chart axis issues and one not-so-common one. These issues relate to the y-axis, which depicts the values in a chart and are the values that “grow out of” the x-axis.

How Do I Make a Secondary Y-Axis on a Chart in PowerPoint?
How Do I Change the Y-Axis Values to Have a New Maximum, Minimum, or Units in Between?
How Can I Move the Y-Axis to the Right Side of the Chart Instead of Its Default (Left Side)?

Earlier this month (April 2011), I gave a presentation at the STC Regional Student Conference in Springfield, Missouri. (During my undergrad/graduate school years, I was quite involved with STC’s Springfield/Missouri State chapter and loved the time spent and things learned there.) My presentation title was “Designing for a CEO,” which focused on my years designing presentations for four CEOs.

“Designing for a CEO” Presentation
Each CEO was from a different company with a wildly different brand and personality. Ever since Steve Jobs took the stage to introduce the first iPod, how …

Many companies want their sales force and executives to have the next-best-thing to help sell or communicate their brand. The Apple iPad is no doubt cool, but can it also be a presentation tool? (Information current as of April 2011)
I researched the iPad for a client who wanted their 200 marketing specialists to have an elevator conversation (2 minutes) or a full-on sales presentation (30 minutes) with them at all times. Everyone already had iPad, so an Android tablet was out of the question. The recommendation needed the ability …

This should be essential teaching in Basic PPT, but I still see a number of professionals who don’t use these two features in PPT (and Word in some respects).
Both of these features allow you as the designer (or just the coordinator of the master file) to a) keep slides looking the way they’re supposed to, and b) remove the formatting/fonts/styles of text and just keep the characters themselves (the new text takes on the look of template or old text style).
Keep Source Formatting
When you copy and paste slides from …

This is a difficult phrase for a designer to hear. “Pop” doesn’t explain the importance of the call-out. When working with designers, please explain why you want certain elements to stand out from others. What’s its importance? Why should it’s audience care? What’s the takeaway? Is there a hierarchy to the page, slide, or poster?
I think the main reason designers hate that phrase is that it’s somewhat demeaning to our profession. We don’t simply dress bad ideas in nicer clothing. We are strategists who learn content, know audiences, and …

PNGs include an ability to show a transparent channel, so a textured background or image can show through a curved edge or window created in the PNG. JPGs are flat images with a solid color for each pixel. I almost exclusively use PNG. They are typically a smaller file, the compression ratio is nice looking, and transparent backgrounds are always a plus.
Sure, I still use JPGs when I download that format from the web, GettyImages.com, or iStockphoto.com. It’s also the format you typically want to use for photographs, especially …

Welcome to my repository of all things in the presentation realm. I hope you can use the knowledge, tips, and advice within this site to create smarter, more visual slides.
I encourage you to break free from the bulleted lists and simple structure of “default” PPTs and expand your slides to a broader appeal. The “Death from PowerPoint” is greatly exaggerated, so long as those capable (and willing to learn) want to spread the good word -
MF